Bet365 expands its Stoke HQ!

Sports and online gaming giant Bet365 has earned itself a reputation for being more than just a business with profit in mind.

Time and time again they have shown that they are willing to put forward the necessary cash to make the working lives of their employees better and more fulfilling. In the past, they have done this through promotion from within, career training programmes and investment in infrastructure that the employees can benefit from.

Back in the News

It is this investment that has brought them to the headlines once more in the past few days. The company has announced that they will be spending a whopping £7.7 million on a new leisure facility for their workers at their Stoke-on-Trent headquarters in the Etruria Valley industrial park.

This leisure centre will be exclusive to the employees of Bet365 who are on site. The plan follows the announcement that the Stoke HQ would aim to take on 300 more employees in the next five years and it will no doubt be a large draw for job hunters.

So, when will it be ready?

The development will begin within the next few weeks with a view to being completed by April 2018. The lot will have an area of 33,500 square foot which will be filled with two five-a-side football pitches, a multi-use games area, changing rooms, training rooms, a set of offices for all the new employees and on-site staff parking. The site will also have facilities for the training and development of employees old and new and will act as a training centre to which employees from all over the country will go to complete training courses and better themselves in their career.

Overall the reaction to the development has been positive with many making the point that it will invigorate the local area and bring construction jobs as well as the 300 office jobs that the new space will permit. In the words of user ‘garrypotter’ on the Stoke Sentinel website: “Great to see an international company continue to invest in the local area.” The development manager for contracted firm Euan Lindsay had this to say on the Bet365 expansion: "This really is an exciting development for the Etruria Valley site and we are very pleased to be able to assist bet365 to further develop its facilities here in Stoke-on-Trent.”

Further Employment

On opening the sports facilities will create a total of nine jobs in reception and maintenance and it will be open every day from 8am to 11pm so that it can be used by workers before and after work. It will be located close to the Wade Ceramics factory in the Etruria Valley commerce park. The Property Director for Bet365 Richard Smith said of the sports facilities: "We realise the importance of health and wellness in the workplace and encourage colleagues to enjoy the new facilities once completed."

The importance of health and wellness is certainly not being overstated by Mr Smith in his statement, most companies know that a healthier and more content workforce means more productivity and less costly employee turnover so the investment in a new wellbeing and health-centric hub is money well spent indeed.